


Hypocrite

by LMDrums



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Apologies, Avengers Family, Broken Bones, Caring, Domestic Avengers, Feelings, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Pain, Protective Avengers, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 21:19:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17332562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMDrums/pseuds/LMDrums
Summary: Tony finally admits that he is hurt. Too bad Steve doesn't believe him.(Tony hurts his shoulder, but Steve thinks he is trying to get out of a debrief)





	Hypocrite

“Tony, you have to go to the debriefing,” Cap commanded.

You would think that after a five-hour fight against some mythological creatures, the Avengers would go back home and relax; however, this was not even close to the truth. Several more hours of mind-numbingly boring debriefing and media events always accompanied battles. Tony hated it. 

“Yeah, I know,” Tony replied, “I’m a little banged up.”

He wasn’t lying in the slightest. His shoulder hurt like hell. It was swollen, tender, and already had a large bruise forming across his collarbone. He knew that lifting his arm above his head was way out of the question, and he doubted he could hold any weight with that arm either. 

“You think you are the only one who took a hit?” Steve accused. 

“I never said that,” Tony replied defensively.

“Well all I could hear was an excuse to avoid the meetings,” Steve fired.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Perfect,” Tony spit, “some of us actually get hurt.”

Steve shook his head. He was tired of Tony always coming up with excuses. He knew everyone was beaten up, but medical had cleared everyone, so there was no reason not to attend. He turned and stormed out of the lab.

“Debrief starts in ten minutes,” Cap shouted as he exited.

Tony sighed. He was tired of Cap always mouthing off to him. He was tired of being singled out for every little thing that he did. 

“Jarvis, run a scan on my shoulder, will ya?” Tony called out. 

“Of course, Sir. The results should be in soon,” the voice called back. 

Tony knew something was wrong with his shoulder. He had taken some heavy hits before, but he had never felt this much pain afterward. He skipped medical to go finish up some work in his lab. This was something he did routinely, but Cap was oblivious. 

“Sir, it appears you are suffering from a broken right collarbone as well as a separated shoulder,” Jarvis informed.

“Shit,” Tony muttered. 

No wonder it hurt so bad. He reached up to comfort his injury just in time for Bruce to walk into the lab.

“Are you okay?” Bruce questioned, obviously staring at Tony’s strange position.

“Uh yeah…” he lied, “I just tweaked my shoulder a bit.”

“Ouch,” Bruce replied, “That’s the worst.”

Tony just nodded and pulled his hand away from his shoulder. Bruce left soon after he found the file he was searching for and went to attend the debrief. 

Tony was left alone in his misery. He hated lying to Bruce, but he knew that Bruce would tell Cap and then he would go all mother-hen and apologize a million times. Tony didn’t want that. All he wanted was ice, a sling, and some food. He hadn’t eaten in a while. 

The only thing that Tony could get away with was food, however. Ice and a sling would draw too much attention that he didn’t want. Instead, he slowly and agonizingly pulled an old hoodie over himself and slipped his arm through the front pouch. It wasn’t much, but it made him feel a little more protected. 

Wincing, he stood up out of his chair and made the slow journey to the conference room. Stopping in the kitchen first to grab a snack, he made sure to walk in just minutes before the meeting started. 

He took a seat at the far head of the table, hoping to avoid any physical contact. The meeting started just minutes after he arrived, but he wasn’t listening to a word that was being said. All he could think about was the unbearable, unending pain that was growing in his shoulder. 

Pulling out his phone, he quickly texted Pepper to bring him some pain medicine. He couldn’t sit there anymore without something in his system. He swore he could feel his bone shifting. He longed for an ice pack, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. It was a miracle that no one in the room had noticed his strange posture and pained expressions. 

“... right, Tony?” Steve asked. 

Tony didn’t even notice that his name was said. He didn’t even know what they were talking about. He had his head back against the chair with his left arm cradling his shoulder. All eyes turned to him while he was completely unaware of the situation. 

Cap was tired of his bullshit. He picked up a small pillow from a chair in the corner and hurled it Tony’s way. 

Blissfully unaware and fantasizing about overdosing on Advil, Tony opened his eyes only seconds before impact. 

His whole world stopped. The pillow nailed him in his right shoulder. 

“Fuck!” Tony yelled.

He hugged his shoulder with his left arm and willed the pain to stop. He fought back tears that threatened to fall and he bit his lip. 

He scrunched up his face in pain and forced his eyes shut. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt tormenting anguish like this. He laid down on the ground in a desperate attempt to relieve pressure from his shoulder.

Cap’s eyes grew wide. He was confused. He never actually thought that Tony could actually be hurt. He rushed over to Tony’s side in aid.

“Hey, talk to me,” Steve commanded. “What’s wrong?”

“Get… away… from me,” Tony muttered through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t know... I thought--,” Steve mumbled.

“Thought I was just kidding when I said I was hurt,” Tony finished.

“Yeah,” Steve confirmed with a depressing tone. 

Just then, Pepper walked through the door with pills in hand for Tony. She was expecting for him to look beat up from the battle especially because he actually asked for pain medicine, but she was not prepared for the sight she was greeted with. 

Tony was laying down on the ground while massaging his right shoulder. She could see the stray tears running down his face as he forced his eyes closed. 

“Oh my gosh!” she cried. “Tony!”

Tony opened his eyes just enough to see her run over to him. He almost recoiled when she started to bring her hand up to touch him.

“Don’t,” he cried, “Don’t… touch my… shoulder.”

“What’s wrong?” Pepper questioned, fear in her voice.

“Cap here didn’t believe me--” he began.

“That’s unfair!” Steve returned. “You didn’t seem hurt when I made the judgment!”

“What about now?” Pepper replied, angrily. 

Cap didn’t answer. Instead, he shook his head in regret and backed away from Tony.

“Help me up?” Tony asked.

“Okay,” Pepper returned, “but let’s take this slow.”

He nodded. He pushed himself into a sitting position with his good arm and sat there for a second.

“I just need a second,” he called, “I uh… feel a little sick.”

A couple minutes later, Pepper grabbed his left hand and helped him stand up. He immediately held his right arm, trying to fight the effects of gravity. 

The other Avengers stood by idly waiting for Pepper to give them instructions; however, no one was even aware of the problem yet. 

“Tell us what’s wrong,” Pepper suggested sternly.

“Jarvis said I uh… broke my collarbone and separated my shoulder,” he informed.

“Oh my gosh!” she replied, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“Cap didn’t want to hear it,” Tony snarled. “I believe that is how he put it.” 

Pepper shot Steve a death glare. He was always pressing Tony to be more open about his life and his struggles and the one time Tony was honest, Steve shut him down. 

“I’m sorry, Tony,” Steve remarked, “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

Tony didn’t care to hear any more of Steve’s excuses, so he, Pepper, and the rest of the Avengers left to head to the common area. 

“Bruce, what should we be getting?” Pepper questioned.

“Well, I think we need to get his hoodie and shirt off so I can access the damage and we can go from there,” Bruce replied. “Clint, go get me some ice.” 

Tony sat down on the couch and tried to pull his sweatshirt off for several minutes before accepting defeat.

“I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to take off a sweatshirt with one arm,” he remarked. 

“I hate to tell you this, but you are going to have to move your right arm to get it off,” Natasha replied. “Let me help you.”

She walked over to where Tony was sitting and easily removed his left arm from the fabric. The next step took a bit longer and elicited a hiss from Tony, but they got it over his head. Next, she gently pulled the hoodie off over his right arm which was fairly painful for Tony judging by his facial expressions. 

“Glad that’s over,” he remarked.

“You still have a shirt on,” she reminded.

He groaned. 

They repeated the same process to take off his shirt and his deformed shoulder was left for all to see. The entire room gasped.

There was a large bump on the top of his shoulder that looked revolting. A dark purple and black bruise encompassed his shoulder as well as extensive swelling. 

“It looks a lot worse now,” Tony commented.

“Jeez Tony,” Bruce remarked as he examined the joint. “This doesn’t look good.”

Bruce gently prodded around his collarbone trying to feel for the break, but Tony quickly swatted his hand away. 

“Tony,” Bruce reasoned, “I need to examine it.”

“I know… It just hurts.”

“I’m sure it does,” Bruce replied, “but it will only take a second.”

“Fine,” Tony grunted. 

Bruce resumed his exam including a quick x-ray downstairs in his lab. He came to the same conclusion as Jarvis. 

“Looks like Jarvis was right,” Bruce announced. 

“I never doubt him,” Tony half-smiled. 

“Well, I’m going to put you in a sling for a while. It’s a little hard to tell the extent of your collarbone break because of all the swelling, so surgery isn’t out of the question yet,” Bruce informed. 

Bruce helped Tony into another t-shirt and fitted him with a sling. Clint brought him ice and set it on his shoulder to help with pain and swelling. Natasha got a heating pad from the closet and plugged it in so he could use it whenever he needed. Pepper, however, sat by his side and played with his hair in an attempt to distract him of his pain. 

“Thanks, guys,” Tony announced. “You guys didn’t have to do all of this.”

“That’s what friends do, Tony,” Natasha reminded. 

“Yeah,” Bruce agreed, “Anytime.”

Clint nodded in agreement. Pepper just kissed him on the cheek. 

In the other room, Steve sat contemplating the events of the morning. He couldn’t believe himself. He was always preaching to Tony about opening up and the one time he did, Steve hurt him. 

He knew that he needed to apologize and try to right his wrongs, but he didn’t know how. He had lost Tony’s trust. 

Unsure what he was going to say, he knocked on Tony’s door that night while he was alone hoping that it would go smoothly. 

“Come in,” Tony called. “I’m not getting up.” 

Tony was sitting in bed holding an ice pack to his shoulder. Steve could see the bruising peeking out from his oversized shirt and he felt his heart drop. 

“What do you want?” Tony snarled. “Wanna throw something else at me?”

“Tony, I’m so sorry,” Steve began. “I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

“Why did you want me to open up if you were just going to ignore what I said?” Tony fired.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Steve replied. “It’s just… you always try to get out of those meetings, so I thought… I thought you were faking it.”

“Well I wasn’t,” Tony remarked. 

“I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad earlier,” Steve apologized.

“It didn’t feel good,” Tony replied sarcastically. 

“I’m sure it didn’t,” Steve began, “but I hope you can forgive me.”

The two sat in silence for a couple minutes. Tony didn’t want to hold a grudge against him. To be honest, he wanted to be friends with him, but he couldn’t let Steve know that. He decided for the integrity of the team and his own emotional balance, it would be best for him to forgive Steve. 

“I’ll make you a deal,” Tony began. “If you go make me some food and grab the bottle of Tylenol out of my bathroom, then I will forgive you.”

“Deal,” Steve smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please comment with feedback and requests!


End file.
